Cameron's ready to fight

20th September
First team

Cameron Carter-Vickers admits he has a fight on his hands as he bids to nail down a place in Swansea City’s starting side.

Having made his Swans debut as a substitute in the draw with Nottingham Forest last weekend, Carter-Vickers was handed a first start for the club at Stoke on Tuesday night.

The on-loan Spurs defender helped Graham Potter’s team to a clean sheet against Forest and then put in another solid shift at the bet365 Stadium.

Carter-Vickers has plenty of Championship experience, having clocked up 34 second-tier appearances during loan spells at Sheffield United and Ipswich last season.

But the American international is taking nothing for granted as he battles for a regular starting spot at the Liberty.

“I felt I did okay on my first start and it’s definitely something to build on, although of course it would have been better if we’d won the game,” Carter-Vickers said.

“I want to be on the pitch as much as possible but it’s definitely a challenge trying to get into the team. I have to train as hard as I can and try to impress the manager in any way I can.

“There are good centre-backs at this club. Joe Rodon has been playing fantastically and so has Mike (van der Hoorn), and Cian Harries is another good player.”

Carter-Vickers is only 20, but he feels a more mature player now than when he first left Spurs on loan for Bramall Lane in August last year.

“I felt I learned a lot last season,” he added.

“As the season went on I felt as though I was figuring out what the Championship demands and what is required. I feel better for that this season.”

The Swans are looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to Middlesbrough having suffered their first away defeat of the season in contentious circumstances.

Joe Allen’s winner should have been flagged offside, but the officials’ error meant Potter’s team came home with nothing despite a battling display.

“We were in the match throughout and we had some chances and to lose a game in that way is frustrating,” Carter-Vickers said.

“There is a good work ethic in this squad. Anyone the manager picks is going to give 100 per cent every time they are on the pitch and I thought we played well at Stoke.

“We gave it our all and had some good passages, but the goal did not come.

“I definitely felt it was a positive performance. Now we have another tough game against a strong Middlesbrough squad, but we have to get ready and go again.”